We have all been fooled at times to eat something or not eat something only to find that it was wrong. In many cases, doing the opposite of what was recommended was the right thing to do.

The obvious one in this group is the fallacy that eating fat makes us fat. Most of us fell for that hook, line and sinker, just as those outside this auspicious group did also. But, there are other things we fell for that turned out to be wrong at best, and harmful at worst. What comes to mind for you?

My biggest gripe was the entire fussing over butter. For years, no decades, I age 'healthy' margarine full of trans-fats to improve my health. After all it was recommended by 'experts' in the field. Now I find I probably did more harm than good. Just who among those who recommended this change to my diet is going to take responsibility for it? Grrrrr....

People aren't wrong when they say--from their vantage point--that fat makes one fat.

This is because of what they are eating, not what you are eating... Fat consumption likely exacerbates their already-inflammatory state due to eating foods to which they are likely averse, which leads to certain medical concerns down the road. Dr. Atkins once said (and I paraphrase) that sugar (and it takes many forms) and fat equals death.

So you're not wrong... but neither are they! It just depends on what your body needs for optimal health. For some, it's low-carb, higher fat; for others it's higher carb, lower fat.

__________________Jamie

I've lost 131 pounds

My rinky dink blog for thinky thoughts and things of absolutely no consequence.

People aren't wrong when they say--from their vantage point--that fat makes one fat.

This is because of what they are eating, not what you are eating... Fat consumption likely exacerbates their already-inflammatory state due to eating foods to which they are likely averse, which leads to certain medical concerns down the road. Dr. Atkins once said (and I paraphrase) that sugar (and it takes many forms) and fat equals death.

So you're not wrong... but neither are they! It just depends on what your body needs for optimal health. For some, it's low-carb, higher fat; for others it's higher carb, lower fat.

I agree. What I was critisizing is the belief that fat makes us fat goes for everybody and nothing else matters. To put it in other words, the belief that if you cut the fat, you lose weight guaranteed. I should have been more clear.

N=1, we all have to do what is right for ourselves, even if it means being a low fat vegan who drinks nothing but fresh spring water.

Josh, I agree with you that we were brainwashed! I am old enough to remember when this happened. I never had trouble with my weight until we were told that eggs. fat & cheese would kill us. I also thought these "experts" knew what they were talking about and changed my woe and that was when I started putting on weight.

I agree, too. As a young adult I ate pretty healthily according to what the powers that be were saying was healthy -- lots of stir fries and salads and soups and whole grains, brown rice, ezekielbread, homemade bread made with whole wheat flour and bulgar. And of course, I bought the low fat version of everything bc that's just what you did. And if I could cook it without adding fat, I did.

When I started really gaining weight, I was 27 years old and I *could*not*understand*it* bc I was eating so well. I was on a big kick of eating garlic bagels with only the tiniest bit of low fat cream cheese and a big slice of fresh tomato and red onion and dinner was pasta w a little fat free feta, fresh tomato, and basil. We were in DC that summer and the tomatoes were awesome. Sigh... And I was running every day.

And then once I started gaining, of course I continued to eat only low fat foods or versions of foods and made sure to eat as many veggies as I could and it just got worse and worse and food became more and more the center of everything I thought about and slowly over the years I began to really overeat...

But I'm thinking that was a direct result of what that crappy diet had done to my body. I don't think I was over eating until after I started gaining. And then my fat was screaming to be fed.

I'm happy that I've figured it out (for the most part), but it does make me kind of angry to think about how ingrained that food pyramid/low carb crap was.

And I do wonder if it's really true that there are people for whom the low fat/whole grain thing is healthy. I have my doubts.

__________________
jayne, type I diabetic and mama to two sweet boys (9/03 and 2/09)

Josh, I agree with you that we were brainwashed! I am old enough to remember when this happened. I never had trouble with my weight until we were told that eggs. fat & cheese would kill us. I also thought these "experts" knew what they were talking about and changed my woe and that was when I started putting on weight.

Yup! I remember doing away with eggs bacon and sausage for breakfast and eating 'healthy' stuff like whole wheat pancakes, waffles, coffee cake, etc. My waist got bigger along with the numbers on the scale. So, I tried t0 lose weight by having a cup of a certain healthy cereal with 1/2 cup of skip milk and a piece of fruit for breakfast. By 9:00 AM I was starving and grabbed any junk food I could find in the snack machines or the staff lunch room. That barely held me until my lunch of low-fat sugary yogurt, and carb loaded dinner left overs.

I remember making low-fat cookies loaded with sugar and trans-fatty margarine because they were given a healthy heart label.

Is it any wonder we get angry, upset, and have a hard time believing what these government and medical experts tell us?

I definitely think eggs got a bad rap for a long time. They were considered to be unhealthy and almost single handedly caused high cholesterol. When, of course, Dr. Atkins told us back in the 70's that eggs were the perfect food. The ideal combination of protein and fat.

Yes- eggs were the first thing that came to mind. A little information can be a dangerous thing.

I remember the experts saying enjoy as much as you like of things like candy, licorice, and snack well cookies .

Look at the crazy spin the yogurt companies are putting out to parents? Marketing low fat, sugar laden (many with high fructose corn syrup ) garbage to their kids under the guise that its a fruity, low fat dairy product, when the truth is many of them have more sugar than a chocolate bar!! The yogurt section now is huge!

Coffee was frowned upon. Now it's good for you.

Coconut oil was considered the most unhealthy oil (transfat wasn't on the radar yet)
Everyone was scared to death of it from all the saturated fat.

I think we forgot to mention the obvious "bad guy" - Bacon. Now I don't feel guilty eating eggs and bacon with butter. I have used butter for a long time because I have known it was better than margarine and tastes better too.

I am glad this topic was brought up. I was reading my newest Good Housekeeping magazine this morning and I kept cringing every time I read about a "low fat alternative" to a high fat food or how to eat lower calories by using low fat products or eating fruit. Even the celebrity on the cover who lost weight had tried Atkins in the past and then panned it as something she couldn't continue. However, her dad had diabetes and used a low carb approach. She then lost a few pounds by "concentrating on her exercise with her trainer" and ate low fat.

Well, I never ate LF, didn't have weight problems until late teens. I was raised on good fats butter and olive oil. We did eat lots of "healthy" carbs, beans, rice, corn bread, home made bread, and fruit. We ate a lot of starches because of not being able to afford meat every day. We were a family of 9. Now I know if you are predisposed to obesity you probably shouldn't make the bulk of your diet carbs . Even if they are "healthy" and especially if they are junky. The food pyramid was not good for most of us.

My biggest deception was that the low-calorie, low-fat diet was the only alternative for losing weight, and you simply had to suck it up and go hungry.

I so wish I knew about Atkins when I was 15 and eating a dangerously low amount of calories every day (with about as much knowledge on nutritional macros as you could expect from an average 15-year-old). I didn't read about LC until I was 23...it just wasn't on my radar. All that youth I wasted going hungry and still being fat, because I thought that was all there was.

__________________
Phoebe

One of the very few things we have complete control over is what we put in our mouths. Unless someone hogs us down, pries open our jaws and force feeds us, we have total and complete control of our eating.

My biggest deception was that the low-calorie, low-fat diet was the only alternative for losing weight, and you simply had to suck it up and go hungry.

I so wish I knew about Atkins when I was 15 and eating a dangerously low amount of calories every day (with about as much knowledge on nutritional macros as you could expect from an average 15-year-old). I didn't read about LC until I was 23...it just wasn't on my radar. All that youth I wasted going hungry and still being fat, because I thought that was all there was.

Yeah...this. I discovered Atkins in '72 when I was 16...but over the next few decades allowed the nutrition industry (and my doctors) to convince me that Atkins was unhealthy. As a result, I went from being only about 20 pounds overweight to 330 lbs by the time I was 40.

My problem will be when my child learns the "food pyramid" in school. I've already begun thinking what I need to tell him about history- it evolves and it is still evolving. History is what we know at that time, and now we know better but history books are still not up to date on this topic. *sigh* This will be fun!

All of the above! I started my day with a slice of whole wheat toast with a skimming of low fat cheese whiz and an orange. I was starving 2 hours later. The rest of the day went down hill most of the time. Then I would wake up the next morning, hate myself and start the cycle again. Carbs must have been clouding my reason.

What really bugs me now is the 'conventional wisdom' advice and endless talk on just about every form of media every day - all day. I have to purposely tune it out or shut it off. Low fat/food pyramid still lives sadly.

Natural fat as a macro nutrient ... by itself, unadulterate will not make a person fat. It is the carbs and in some cases, the protein that are little fat makers.

__________________Cathy
Original start - Feb. 2000 180/125

"The energy content of food (calories) matters, but it is less important than the metabolic effect of food on our body." Dr. P. Attia

My problem will be when my child learns the "food pyramid" in school. I've already begun thinking what I need to tell him about history- it evolves and it is still evolving. History is what we know at that time, and now we know better but history books are still not up to date on this topic. *sigh* This will be fun!

Great point.

__________________
Phoebe

One of the very few things we have complete control over is what we put in our mouths. Unless someone hogs us down, pries open our jaws and force feeds us, we have total and complete control of our eating.

I remember very well when my weight problems started. It was the low fat, fat free craze at the time. I remember eating tons of Snack Well cookies because it was fine to eat them...they were fat free for goodness sake!! Oh vey!

My husband and I went to a nutritionist recommended by our family doctor. She told him that he could eat a whole package of Snackwells if he wanted to because they were fat free.

When I visited her with my food log and NO weight loss, she said I was lying.

Another doctor convinced us that our toddler didn't need fat either. He had always eaten the same as us, but drank whole milk on top of it. We switched him to skim milk and he had a seizure in short order. We live near one of the best children's hospitals in the country and he had piles of tests. No one cold tell us why. Their best answer...... he spiked a fever that I couldn't feel as I held his little convulsing body that went down to normal before the paramedics came.